Permit process: five days to validate, thirty to cure and 180, 120 or 30 to decide

It is Chapter 3.1 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, which opens the volume on permits for developments and businesses. Its purpose is to set the rules governing, before OGPe, the Authorised Professionals and the hierarchy I-III autonomous municipalities, the administrative procedures relating to final determinations, permits, licences, certifications and any procedure necessary for or bearing on operating a business and developing projects in Puerto Rico, so as to improve the permit process and promote investment. It applies to all administrative procedures before OGPe, the PAs and those municipalities, under the powers delegated in Act 161-2009.

The chapter applies to every application evaluated by OGPe, the hierarchy I-III autonomous municipalities, the Authorised Professionals, the Authorised Inspectors and the Government Entities Concerned. Processing begins with electronic filing through the SUI on the single digital procedure portal, and the filing is assigned a unique number. Beyond meeting the general requirements of Rule 2.1.9 of Volume II for filing service applications, every permit application must meet the particular requirements the chapter details for each type of service. And no incomplete application shall be accepted.

• Filing the application electronically through the SUI on the single digital procedure portal, which assigns the filing a unique number.Verified against the official source
• Filing it complete: the regulation expressly says no incomplete application shall be accepted.Verified against the official source
• Meeting the general requirements of Rule 2.1.9 of Volume II and the particular requirements the chapter details for each type of service.Verified against the official source
• Making the corresponding payment, as the Secretario Auxiliar of OGPe establishes by Administrative Order.Verified against the official source
• Facing a cure requirement in discretionary permits, licences or certifications: submitting the required documentation within a maximum of thirty calendar days, or requesting thirty additional days before expiry.Verified against the official source
• Once a permit, licence, certification or authorisation for a non-residential use is issued: keeping it accessible to the general public and displayed in a visible place of the establishment, business or premises; the other permits shall be available and accessible at all times during the works.Verified against the official source

• The chapter lists no documents of its own: it fixes the procedure and the terms. The documents are those Rule 2.1.9 of Volume II requires for filing service applications and those particular to each type of permit, licence or certification.
• Where OGPe, the municipality or the Authorised Professional requires it as a condition for issuing the construction, use or Permiso Único in staged projects: performance bonds, instead of completing the required installations, easements or services.

1. 1

   Step 1: It all starts at the SUI

   Processing of every application to be evaluated by OGPe, the hierarchy I-III autonomous municipalities, the Authorised Professionals, the Authorised Inspectors and the Government Entities Concerned begins with filing it electronically through the SUI on the single digital procedure portal, and the filing is assigned a unique number. Beyond meeting the general requirements of Rule 2.1.9 of Volume II, every application must meet the particular requirements for its type of service. And there is a short sentence that avoids many misunderstandings: no incomplete application shall be accepted. Payment is set by OGPe’s Secretario Auxiliar by Administrative Order; the chapter prints no amount and we publish none.

2. 2

   Step 2: The five days to validate

   OGPe and the hierarchy I-III autonomous municipalities determine within no more than five working days of the filing whether the application is complete, and notify the applicant using the electronic system. If complete, it is validated using the SUI. If it is determined to be incomplete, a cure requirement is issued identifying the application’s deficiencies, the regulatory or statutory grounds on which the requirement rests, and generally indicating the form and requirements to complete it. And then comes the rule that works in the applicant’s favour: if five days pass without the agency notifying the case’s validation or a cure requirement, the application shall be referred for the corresponding evaluation. We reproduce the text as printed: the determination is measured in "five working days" and the silence in "five days".

3. 3

   Step 3: The cure: thirty days, plus thirty

   If a cure requirement is issued in discretionary permits, licences or certifications, you will have a maximum of thirty calendar days to submit the required documentation, and the service application stays open for that same term. If the term passes without curing, uploading and returning all required documents electronically to OGPe, the filing system will archive the application. Not everything is lost if that happens: OGPe may approve administrative measures to reactivate cases archived for cure. But it is far better not to get there, and for that the regulation offers a way out: before the thirty calendar days expire, the applicant has the option to request thirty additional days to meet the requirements. And if what is happening is that you disagree with what is being asked, there is a different and very short route: you may resort, within the jurisdictional term of five calendar days from the notice of the requirement, to the Administrative Reviews Division through an expedited administrative review request.

4. 4

   Step 4: One hundred and eighty, one hundred and twenty, thirty

   The maximum terms for evaluating applications are three, and all are counted from the moment the application was deemed complete. Discretionary procedures entailing a public hearing or requiring an Environmental Impact Statement must be evaluated and adjudicated within no more than one hundred and eighty days. Discretionary procedures not entailing a public hearing, within no more than one hundred and twenty days. And ministerial procedures, within no more than thirty days. Two nuances matter. First: the time the applicant takes to answer the cure requirement is not included in computing the term the agency has to adjudicate the application — the clock stops while the ball is in your court. Second: OGPe’s Secretario Auxiliar may establish or reduce the terms for each procedure by Administrative Order, may add terms for new procedures and consolidate procedures or modify terms.

5. 5

   Step 5: The municipality and its ten days

   There is a term almost nobody knows about that can unblock a case. The municipality’s Permit Office, after examining the digital file, in projects whose consideration falls to the central agencies, shall elevate the file to the corresponding agency within a period not exceeding ten days from the filing date, so that it may act in accordance with the law. If that term passes without the municipality elevating the application, the applicant may make an Expedited Administrative Review Request. And an extra rule for anyone filing under Act No. 135 of 1967, the Plans or Projects Certification Act: the agency may not require additional information once the application is complete. In other cases the applicant may indeed be asked to clarify, expand, correct or supplement information, but that request for information does not exempt, extend or delay the terms provided to approve or deny the case.

6. 6

   Step 6: When a ministerial permit may be denied

   A ministerial procedure is not an automatic one. OGPe’s Secretario Auxiliar, the Authorised Professional or the hierarchy I-III autonomous municipality, as applicable, may — in protection of the public interest and considering factors such as health, safety or public order, public improvements, and environmental or archaeological conditions making approval of a permit or a government entity’s recommendation undesirable — deny the authorisation. And on bonds: OGPe, the municipality or the PA may require, as a condition for issuing the construction and use permits and the Permiso Único in projects to be developed in stages, performance bonds instead of completing the required installations, easements or services; and may require a bond as a condition where the proposal’s nature so justifies.

7. 7

   Step 7: The permit must be displayed

   Once a permit, licence, certification or authorisation for a non-residential use is issued, it shall be accessible to the general public and displayed in a visible place of the establishment, business or premises. The other permits shall be available and accessible at all times during the works. It is a short but real obligation, and it explains why in a commercial premises the papers are usually framed next to the till.

8. 8

   Step 8: Provisional permits do not exist

   This is the provision worth having to hand if someone offers you a shortcut. The concept of a provisional permit is not permitted or contemplated by the regulation, being contrary to planning concepts and purposes; therefore, no provisional permits shall be issued. The authorisation of a provisional permit shall be void, and the Planning Board, the autonomous municipality or the Government Entity Concerned, as applicable, may issue a fine to whoever holds one. There is a single exception, and it is bounded: in the case of permits to extract material from the earth’s crust, Act No. 132 of 25 June 1968 authorises granting a provisional permit in such permits, as defined in the Planning Glossary. A note on the source: this rule speaks of municipalities "con Jerarquía I a V" while the rest of the chapter speaks of "Jerarquía de la I a la III"; we reproduce both mentions as printed.

Every application is filed electronically through the SUI, the single digital procedure portal. It is evaluated by OGPe, the Authorised Professionals or the hierarchy I-III autonomous municipalities, as delegated in Act 161-2009, the hierarchy agreements and the Joint Regulation itself. Validation and the cure requirement are notified through the electronic system. The expedited administrative review request — both against a cure requirement and where the municipality does not elevate the file within ten days — is filed with the Administrative Reviews Division, under Chapter 11.1 of Volume XI. And payment is set by OGPe’s Secretario Auxiliar by Administrative Order.

• Filing an incomplete application: the regulation says none shall be accepted.
• Letting the cure’s thirty calendar days lapse without requesting the thirty more before expiry.
• Arguing about the cure requirement by email instead of going within five calendar days to Administrative Reviews.
• Counting the adjudication term from when you filed rather than from when the application was deemed complete.
• Believing the time you take to cure runs against the agency: it is expressly not included in its term.
• Waiting indefinitely for the municipality to elevate the file: at ten days an expedited administrative review is available.
• Assuming a ministerial permit is automatic: it may be denied in protection of the public interest.
• Accepting a provisional permit: its authorisation is void and whoever holds one may be fined.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• Permit Management Office

  ogpe

  ogpe.pr.gov